Research Overview

Our Division has proposed and implemented a program of education and research to train a new generation of translational and clinical research investigators to take advantage of new breakthroughs in understanding disease pathophysiology and the resultant potential for innovative therapy in rheumatic diseases.

A solid foundation in experimental immunology exists at Stanford. Additionally, new opportunities exist for translational research with clinical applications and new approaches to outcome assessment and clinical trial development and implementation. The Division takes advantage of the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford (CCIS), an interdepartmental, multidisciplinary program comprised of Faculty members whose research is at the forefront of research in clinical immunology. CCIS is comprised not only of members of the Division, but also leaders in the development of new technologies, and in the application of current knowledge of basic immune mechanisms to the investigation and treatment of human diseases.

Rheumatology trainees benefit from this interdisciplinary approach and from the tradition of interactions among immunology researchers and clinicians at Stanford. The principal objective of the Divisional training program is to aid clinical rheumatology trainees to become independent clinical investigators, and to pursue long-term careers in academic medicine.

The rheumatology Facultyâs research at Stanford is truly multidisciplinary, ranging from molecular biology, through cell biology of immune responses, to clinical rheumatology and epidemiology. As a group, this Faculty is focused on understanding and treating rheumatic diseases in both animal models and patients. As a group, we have responded to the need for training MD and MD/PhD. postdoctoral fellows, both at the technology transfer interface between âbench and bedside,â as well as âbedside to bench,â and in the clinical investigative fields of trial design and implementation, and health outcomes research.

Training in our Division emphasizes training for clinician investigators who will become members of university medical school Faculties.